- Ultrasound is safe and painless, and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. The procedure involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the probe through the gel into the body.The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back and a computer then uses those sound waves to create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in x-rays), thus there is no radiation exposure to the patient.Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of the body’s internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels..
Venous ultrasound provides pictures of the veins throughout the body.
A venous ultrasound study is used to locate blood clots in the leg and also performed to:
- determine the cause of long-standing leg swelling. In people with a common condition called “varicose veins,” the valves that normally keep blood flowing back to the heart may be damaged, and venous ultrasound can help identify the damaged valves and abnormal blood flow.
- aid in guiding placement of a needle or catheter into a vein.Ultrasound can help locate the exact site of the vein and avoid complications, such as bleeding or damage to a nearby nerve or artery.
- map out the veins in the leg or arms so that pieces of vein may be removed and used to bypass a narrowed or blocked blood vessel.
- An example is using portions of vein from the leg to surgically bypass narrowed heart (coronary) arteries.
- (needs editing) *******example a blood vessel graft used for dialysis if it is not working as expected; for example, the graft may be narrowed or blocked.